Wessel Badenhorst

Wessel Badenhorst is a partner of WBIncorp and a senior litigator with extensive experience in complex, high-consequence legal matters. He began practice in 1996 at Webber Wentzel and has since served as a partner at leading South African law firms, practised as an advocate, and spent 12 years at Hogan Lovells, where he served as Office Managing Partner until the end of 2022. His practice is shaped by deep litigation experience, strategic judgment, and a disciplined commercial approach to solving difficult problems.

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Wessel advises clients on complex disputes, business restructurings, distressed asset transactions, mining and environmental matters, and employment law. A significant part of his work has been in and around the mining sector, where he has advised on the restructuring and sale of distressed assets across the chrome, manganese, gold, and coal industries. His experience includes major unbundling and carve-out transactions designed to preserve value, manage regulatory risk, and maximise recoveries in distressed scenarios.

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He has also acted in significant mining and environmental litigation, including matters that have helped clarify the jurisdiction of the Department of Minerals over mining activities in environmentally sensitive areas along the West Coast, including land based and tidal zone operations, as well as the legality of conducting mining operations across adjacent properties. His work in this area reflects the combination of regulatory depth, litigation experience and strategic judgment that characterises his practice.